Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story
- Автор: Lister Ann
- Серия: Sheet Music #1
- Год: 2011
- Язык: голландский
- Год: Lulu.com
- ISBN: 9781105173578
- Жанр: Прочая древняя литература
Электронная книга - «Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story». Краткое содержание книги:
“No,” a faint voice replied. “I’ll see him. I’ve faced all my other demons so I can’t back down from this. If nothing else, we’ll get complete closure and he can finally move on with his life.”
“I hope you’re not referring to Mike as a demon? He’s been called a lot of things but certainly not demonic.”
“It’s an expression, Brian. Don’t press your luck. I said I’d come, so leave it at that,” Annie replied, wondering how she would conjure up the courage to see Michael face-to-face again after everything that had been said between them.
“Annie, I can’t thank you enough for this. I owe you one.”
“And, I’m not making any promises for happily ever after either,” she quickly added.
“I understand. I’ll leave a few tickets and backstage passes for you at the box office. Bring some friends and have a good time. All right?”
“Fine. I’ll see you then.”
Annie hung up the phone and immediately began to cry. What on earth had she agreed to do, she thought. Long ago she had given up any thoughts about purposely seeing Michael. If their paths had crossed by accident, that would have been different. Then she would have done the polite thing and talked to him out of friendship. But seeing him this way would appear as if she were crawling back to him.
“When you’re ready, come look for me. I’m easier to find than you were,” his smooth voice echoed in her head. They were the last words he said to her before pointing her at the front door to the rehab clinic.
Two months later she had signed herself out, clean and sober, with a renewed outlook on life. No longer was she carrying around the burden of survivor’s guilt. Sammy had died in the accident and she had lived. A higher power knew the reason for her life being spared and she had released the constant need to justify it. By doing so, she had freed herself to live.
While in the rehab facility, Annie also contacted the orthopedic surgeon, a referral to whom Michael had given Annie. Within a week of her appointment she was scheduled for surgery that would rid her of the constant pain she was suffering.
After the surgery she began twelve weeks of grueling physical therapy. Now she walked with a limp so slight only her doctor could detect it. More importantly, her pain was almost non-existent. It would still take one more corrective surgery to erase the scarring but the worst of it was behind her.
Sobriety had cleaned Annie’s head and paved the way for a rejuvenated musical career. After one of her weekend gigs at Club Tango on Martha’s Vineyard, the two founding members of the female rock ‘n’ roll group, Lace, solicited her talents to join their group.
Lace, being a top-notch act reminiscent of the 70’s female band, Heart, headlined most gigs they played. They did small concert tours and played to sold-out clubs in every city they visited. Due to a heart condition, the female lead singer was being forced to take an extended leave of absence from the band. Rather than put the band into early retirement, they chose to scout out a temporary replacement. After listening to Annie’s performance, they decided she would fit their style and sound perfectly.
“Would you like me to come by and audition?” Annie asked the two members of Lace.
“You just did,” they replied.
A few days later, Annie sat in a crowded boardroom while she signed the necessary contract with her newly hired agent and legal counsel at her side. Her performances with Lace wouldn’t take place for many months due to a lengthy rehearsal process. Plus, Annie had to schedule her last surgery around all of this, making an official start date almost impossible to arrange. In the mean time, Annie basked in the glory of finally being noticed for her talents - without the help of Michael or the influence of her past connection to Thrust’s battle of the band contest.
Odd thing was, the first person she thought of to share her great news with, was the one person she was no longer connected to: Michael…the love of her life and the reason she was still breathing - literally and figuratively. The mere thought of him still made her tremble. At first, it was her anger that kept her from contacting him, then it became more about pride.
She saw them meeting someday down the road but the visual she had was far different then the way it would be on Friday at the FleetCenter. She wanted it to be backstage after one of her upcoming Lace concerts, after she was successful and had something to show for herself. Had she thought about him during the last six months? Of course she had. Not a day went by that thoughts of him hadn’t danced in her head and, at night, he still haunted her dreams.
Throughout the entire process of signing with Lace, Annie made sure not to mention her past involvement with Michael or his band. Not that it would have mattered, but she didn’t want it to, either. He was part of her past and she rarely shared it with anyone. She could clearly remember the day she revealed her secret to her physical therapist when a Thrust classic anthem suddenly blasted out of the gym’s sound system.
“I used to live with that guy,” she had blurted matter-of-factly, when the song’s lengthy guitar solo kicked into high gear.
“Seriously?” the star-struck woman asked.
“Yes, but it feels like it was in another life.”
Now, it was at Brian’s personal request that Michael was brought back into her life. Perhaps it was destiny prevailing; then again, maybe not. She wondered if Brian knew of her signing with Lace. More importantly, did Michael?
She dressed in faded blue jeans, tight white half shirt and a jean jacket, with black cowboy boots. She wanted to keep it simple and understated, as if she hadn’t spent to much time toiling over what to wear - even though she had.
As promised, tickets for the show waited for Annie and her friend at the box office. The seats were half a dozen rows back and off to the left side, which Annie was grateful for. That way, she wouldn’t be in Michael’s direct line of view.
Two songs into the concert and Annie knew exactly why Brian was so concerned with Michael’s recent performances. He seemed distant and detached, as he hammered away at his guitars. Physically, he seemed leaner than she remembered, but his hair and eyes remained the same. Even on a bad night, Michael cut an impressive image on stage. His raw, earthy swagger still brought every woman in the arena to her knees. And the ‘fuck all’ attitude was apparent in every solo he attacked his way through. This clearly wasn’t the man she knew or the standard of playing she knew he was capable. But the crowd still loved it, roaring their appreciation as the final encore was completed and the house lights illuminated the arena.
“So, I guess you’ll be headed backstage now?” Annie’s friend asked, collecting her overnight bag from beneath her seat.
“I thought you were coming with me?”
“Nope. As much as you know I’d love to meet any one of them, I believe this is your party - not mine.”
“But I can’t walk back there by myself,” Annie protested.
“You’ve faced bigger obstacles in the past than this one, Annie. This should be a walk in the park compared to what you’ve been through. So, go on. Face your last demon and be done with it. You’ll either fall back in love or you’ll both have closure.”
“This is much harder than I thought it would be,” Annie sighed.
“Do it. And remember what I said, if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” her friend urged, shoving her in the direction of the back stage hallway. “If I don’t see you back at the hotel tonight, I’ll know why.” Her friend giggled and disappeared into the sea of departing fans.
Annie dug deep into the pocket of her jeans, pulled out the back stage pass, and hung it nervously around her neck. Taking a deep breath, she headed toward the side door, as if someone were escorting her to the gas chamber. A burly guard filled the doorframe and asked to see her pass.